Page 94 of Lord of Justice

"You don't look much better, sweetie." I cling to her, burying my face in her shoulder.

***

When they had tried to separate us, we went feral, there was no other way to describe it. I headbutted the guard trying to hold me back and dove on the bitch trying to handcuff Rose, digging my fingers into her face, trying to claw her eyes out. She fell back, screaming and I was yanked back by my hair, my shoulder slamming into a doorframe.

I think that's when it was dislocated, the arm hung useless and I used my teeth instead, biting the forearm of the guard trying to choke me out,tearing skin off. Rose may have been held back by two men, but she bucked and kicked the face of another guard coming in on me, knocking him over and bashed her forehead into the face of the next nurse trying to stick a needle in her.

"No drugs for the pregnant one!" that fucking doctor shouted. So, they punched me in the face, knocking me out, and my last dimming sight was of my Rose, unconscious and dragged away.

***

Now, we hold each other awkwardly because everything hurts. Once she's calmed down enough to see the ultrasound machine glowing, Rose wipes her face with her filthy shirt, stepping back. "Andrey, come here. You need to see your baby. I can wait outside. You two deserve a moment."

Watching her step back and let Andrey take his place next to me is acutely painful. I don't want her to leave, but I desperately want him to see this with me. He missed the first ultrasound and I'd cried silently on the way home, clutching the blurry black and white pictures.

"C'mon," Aunt Ella says, putting her arm around Rose's waist. "You're running on fumes, honey. Let's get you checked out."

Dr. Sharma smiles at us warmly, preparing the transducer. "I warmed up the gel," she says. "Ithink you deserve a little comfort after today, yes?"

"Thank you," Andrey kisses my hand. "Iris has been through enough."

She darkens the room a bit and turns back to me, spreading the gel on my stomach. Andrey's hand hovers over me for a moment, carefully not touching my skin.

"How could I have not seen?" he asks. His tone was half wonder, and half self-loathing.

"Stop," I whisper. "You're here now, remember?"

The probe presses down on me, and I wince. "Sorry," Dr. Sharma says soothingly. "I know it's a lot. I'm just trying to get-" Her head cocks, the light from the monitor reflecting off her glasses.

Finding the next read does not need to take long.

Take a quick look at what is available onLokepub.

Andrey leans forward abruptly, his hand tight on mine. "Why are you silent?"

"Sorry, Mr. Morozov," she says distractedly, "I'm just checking… Ah." She sits back, beaming. "I'm turning on the Doppler. Have a listen." We've been watching the screen so closely that it takes us a moment.

"The whooshing sound, that is the heartbeat, correct?" Andrey asks.

"Yes," she says, still smiling, waiting.

"Is that an echo?" I ask.

"No, Mrs. Morozova, you're carrying twins." She moves the probe slightly to the left and we see it. Two little beans, well, more like avocado size, curled against each other's tiny bodies. "They're in a single amniotic sac."

Andrey makes a little choking sound. I glance up, startled. "Honey, are you okay?"

"Identical twins? This isn't genetically- your genes, of course, twins but identical-" I've never heard him so rattled, and after everything that's happened that day, that's saying something.

"Are they…" His gaze sharpens, following every move of the probe. "Are they all right?"

My heart rate leaps into a gallop. "Are they hurt? We got banged up today, I tried to cover my stomach, but-"

The doctor deftly runs through the measurements. "I believe they're both quite well. The amniotic sac is perfectly intact, no loss of fluid. The babies' vitals are good. Your stomach is smaller than what we usually see at four months, but your sister Violet carries her pregnancies similarly, it must be a trait in your family. But the babies are there, and healthy." She looks up at us, shrewd eyes twinkling. "I think you two should take a deep breath."

Slumping into the chair next to me, Andrey putshis head on my chest."YA molyus' bogu, v kotorogo ne veril."

My sore fingers card through his hair. "What did you say, honey?"